Harvard President Claudine Gay plans to travel to Asia in March for her first international trip since taking office in July, she said in an interview with The Crimson earlier this month.
Gay’s visit to Asia follows a trend of Harvard presidents traveling overseas during spring break to raise funds, meet with alumni and visit local universities. His predecessor, Lawrence S. Bacow, passed his last spring break as visiting president Jordan, Israel and Palestine.
It is not clear which countries Gay will visit during his trip to Asia. Each of Gay’s last four predecessors made high-profile trips to East Asia during their tenure, during which visited China and put with the incumbent Chinese president in Beijing.
During the interview, Gay did not indicate whether his visit to Asia would include a stop in China. Harvard spokesman Jonathan L. Swain wrote in a statement Thursday that “planning is underway for a potential trip by her to Asia in March.”
“No location or destination for the potential trip has been confirmed,” Swain added.
Gay will not be the only senior Harvard official to meet with alumni and fundraise in Asia in 2024.
Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana will speak at a fundraiser in Hong Kong for the Harvard College Fund in January. 9, according to an email from the Harvard Events Office obtained by The Crimson. The event, which is scheduled to feature a reception and conversation with Khurana, is scheduled to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.
Gay and Khurana’s trip to Asia are clear indications that the University is looking to intensify its fundraising in the continent. Like Gay, Bacow used his first spring break trip as president to travel to East Asia.
Harvard’s fundraising efforts in Asia also come as some donors are closer to Cambridge sure about the University amid fierce criticism of the University initial response to the Israel-Hamas war and Gay’s controversial congressional testimony about anti-Semitism on campus.
In the interview, Gay said she hopes to spend her second semester as president connecting “with different parts of our alumni community that I haven’t had a chance to reach until now.”
Gay added that she was “looking forward to going to Asia.”
-Staff writer Miles J. Herszenhorn can be reached at miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com. Follow him @mherszenhorn gold on the wires @mileshersz.
– Staff writer Claire Yuan can be reached at claire.yuan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on @claireyuan33.
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